Victoria’s Tea Rooms & Restaurant

Victoria’s Tea Rooms & Restaurant, 11-13 Minnis Road, Birchington-on-Sea, Kent, 2006 • Lovely deco fan light doors and net curtain combo. This adjoined an equally retro ice cream parlour – I […]

Tung Hing

Tung Hing, 16 Tontine Street, Folkestone, Kent, 2017 • Melancholy old-school Chinese.  

Devon & Exeter Jigsaw Puzzle Library

Devon & Exeter Jigsaw Puzzle Library, South Street Baptist Church Palace Gate Centre, 3 Palace Gate, Exeter, Devon, 2009 • Charming charity delivering gentle enjoyment to the time-rich since 1972, when it […]

Jim’s Cafe

Jim’s Cafe, 59 Chatsworth Road, Clapton, Borough of Hackney, London E5, 2011 • Italian cafe from the 1960s that once housed an ice cream factory, and closed circa 2008 when the […]

The Lambeth Walk

The Lambeth Walk, 17 Lambeth Road, Waterloo, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2010 • Last call for a net-curtained council estate boozer that was opened by Pearly folk in 1951 (Pathe footage […]

Hair Talk

Hair Talk, 12 High Street, Rottingdean, East Sussex, 2004 • Seaside crimper with eyeless 1960s woman in its sign, and giant-haired 1970s woman in its window. It was beneath a faded […]

Ying Ho, London Shoe Rebuilder J. Poole

Ying Ho, London Shoe Rebuilder J. Poole, 232 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW15, 1981 • Now for a few really ancient shots I took from a bus […]

Jan & Charlie’s

Jan & Charlie’s, 59 Old High Street, Folkestone, Kent, 2008 • End of days for an old-school fishmonger. Ironically it looks more old-fashioned these days, as Frizbee clothing; the entire frontage […]

376

376, 376 Forest Road, Walthamstow, Borough of Waltham Forest, London E17, 2004 • Only the net curtains remain in this traditional green shop, which I’d guess was once a cafe. […]

Dawn Crystal

Dawn Crystal, 3 HighStreet, Amblecote, Stourbridge, West Midlands, 2016 • Cute old shop opposite the Ruskin Glass Centre in Stourbridge, a West Midlands town that was once the world centre of the cut glass […]

J. Hull & Co.

J. Hull & Co., 128 Kingsland High Street, Borough of Hackney, London E8, 2004 • Traditional net shop which only disappeared in 2014 – you can see its closing down sale here. Reflecting the area’s […]

San-San

San-San, 59 Lime Street, Liverpool, 2003 • My last example of neon from Liverpool Chinatown’s traditional restaurants – a breed that are slipping away, as they have done in London. This one […]

Coin Wash (Emsworth)

Coin Wash, 1 Victoria Road, Emsworth, Hampshire, 2003 • Cute launderette, which by 2008 was looking very sad, and is now a house.

F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People

F.O.T.O.P. Friends of the Old People, 4 Middle Street, Hastings, East Sussex, 2014 • Net-curtained cafe for the elderly. I thought it was closed down, but Google shows it later on […]

Elizabeths Restaurant

Elizabeths Restaurant, 30 Bridge Street, Sunderland, 2013 • Apostrophe-free diner that appears as traditional inside as out. That looks like the remnants of a shiny Brilliant-style Vitrolite facade under the […]

V for Hair

V for Hair, 51 West Hill Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, 2004 • A sign in window appraises us that the V stands for Veronica, which is a proper hairdresser name. It’s still […]

Vivette

Vivette, 33 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • I assumed this nice window belonged to a hairdresser, but in fact it was an interior design business. It now houses a yacht […]

Zoom the Loom

Zoom the Loom, 165 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • I always like a traditional net curtain shop, and this one’s also blessed with an unusual name and sign. I’m […]

Stitch & Sew

Stitch & Sew, 11 New Broadway, Tarrring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • Beautiful old-lady shop, complete with flotilla of knitted ducklings in the window. The opening times sign on […]

The Cat Basket

The Cat Basket Rhodes Minnis Cat Sanctuary Shop, 16a Cheriton Place, Folkestone, Kent, 2008 • All cat charity shops should be required by law to have net curtains like this […]

Quality Cafe

Quality Cafe, 3 Station Road South, Merstham, Surrey, 2001 • Beautiful station cafe. It’s now been modified with pale blue tiles and orange windows, and looks really weird. There’s an incredibly […]

Abbey Arms, Harry’s Mini Cabs

Abbey Arms, Harry’s Mini Cabs, 31 & 31a Wilton Road, Abbey Wood, Borough of Greenwich, London SE2, 2014 • A pub in Abbey Wood that’s still standing. It doesn’t have […]

The Little Tea Room

The Little Tea Room, 55 Marine Drive, Rottingdean, East Sussex, 2004 • Oh no! It’s now called Sea of Spice. And doesn’t have net curtains.

Smokers World

Smokers World, 344 Bethnal Green Road, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2005 • Fags, mags and net curtains – interesting mix. It was still there in 2012, not sure […]

White Swan

White Swan, 217 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Look, the net curtains have got swans on! ‘Smoking allowed throughout’, proclaim stickers in the windows. “The place could do with […]

Collectors Corner

Collectors Corner, 106 High Street, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, 2014 • Collecting dust, but not apostrophes.

Anne

Anne, 62 High Street, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, 2014 • More genteel net, albeit in a rather minimalist setting.  

Dolly’s Diner

Dolly’s Diner, 177 London Road North, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • The sign looks newer than the net – I bet the previous one was nicer. Still much the same by 2012; […]

J & M Smith

J & M Smith, 64 North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire, 2003 • A very sad shop which suggested to me that its owner had died. Although I didn’t know it when […]

Tealwood Company Limited

Tealwood Company Limited, Seagull Lane, Emsworth, Hampshire, 2003 • Plucky sliver of gentility in a workaday industrial unit. Still there but sans net, it’s a useful-looking printers whose website says it […]

Kenilworth Castle

Kenilworth Castle, 104 St Anns Road, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London W11, 2002 • Unusual post-war council estate pub on the fringes of posh Holland Park. By 2012 it was painted blue and much […]

Val del Taro Cafe

Val del Taro Cafe, 51 Camberwell New Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE5, 2001 • Classic caff with stylish acrylic typography and a misplaced accent. Became unrecognisably carved up as […]

Net stall

Net stall, 1976 Hall, Kirkgate Market, Leeds, West Yorkshire, 2014 • I daresay this stall does have a name, but it looks rather nice closed down. A fitting occupant for […]

The Black Horse (Aldeburgh)

The Black Horse, 257 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk, 2014 • First licenced to sell beer in 1843, this ivy-capped wreck was once (reputedly) a major smuggling inn. By 1988 it was The […]

Parkers

Parkers, 13 Oxford Street, Whitstable, Kent, 2002 • None of those namby-pamby filter tips for the salty seadogs of Folkestone. The gallery next door shows which way the wind was blowing; […]

Wavy Line (Woolwich)

Wavy Line, 46 Woolwich Road, Borough of Greenwich, London SE10, 2002 • Evocative holdout from the era before Costcutter and the like. Still vacant in 2012, with nice tiling intact but […]

Valerie

Valerie, 85 Ealing Road, Brentford, Borough of Hounslow, London TW8, 2014 • Redolent of an Ealing film set, a classic net-curtained coiffeuse with bonus carriage arch.

Boot Parade

Boot Parade, 88 High Street, Edgware, Borough of Barnet, London HA8, 2004 • 1970s footwear of a different kind – a resolutely unglamorous shopping parade that’s still proudly beige today.

Cameron Hair Fashions

Cameron Hair Fashions, 48 High Street, Caterham, Surrey, 2001 • A poignant sight: you just know this is one of the last Christmases for this lovingly ruched and curlicued old coiffeur’s, which […]

Sandwich Bar Cafe

Sandwich Bar Cafe, 4-5 Hatfields, Waterloo, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2001 • Fine old-school cafe with spurious tinsel and customer in festive green hat. The ruched curtains, painted ivy and […]

St Margaret’s Church (Edgware)

St Margaret’s Church, Edgware, 1 Station Road, Edgware, Borough of Barnet, London HA8, 2004 • Sales point for religion, with beautiful lettering.

Petre

Petre, 5 Poole Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset, 2004 • I think this strangely-named shop – in an enclave of tattered buildings housing small businesses both living and dead – may have been a […]

Embassy Cafe

Embassy Cafe, 1-2 Mortimer Square, Holland Park, Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London W11, 2002 • Fine old greasy spoon in one of London’s most expensive areas. Still there, still […]

Sew & Sew

Sew & Sew, 377 Edgware Road, Paddington, City of Westminster, London W2, 2003 • Somehow escaped the crafts boom. Now a coffee shop called Coffee Shop.

KJ’s Cafe

KJ’s Cafe, 2 Tarring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • Classic railway cafe-hut next to West Worthing station in what remains an old-fashioned area. Now the netless and less scrumptious Scrumptious […]

Designer Clearance Store

Designer Clearance Store, 19 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Yes, I expect they’ve got some top designer brands here. Are those guano heaps on the windowsill?

Roystons Curios

Roystons Curios, 88 High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, 2007 • Is that as in creepy village Royston Vasey off TV’s ‘The League of Gentleman‘? Cheerful!

Old Town Tea Shop

Old Town Tea Shop, 7 High Street, Poole, Dorset, 2004 • Now poshed up in heritage green as The Old Townhouse, with net curtains and orange tiling gone.

The Coffee Pot Snack Bar

The Coffee Pot Snack Bar, 10 Union Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight, 2002 • I always like a nice generic Pepsi cafe sign – it looks like the “The” was a […]

Ex-shop (Norbiton)

Ex-shop, 160 London Road, Norbiton, Surrey, 2005 • Another ex-shop resembling fine art, this time Donald Judd. Was later knocked down to build toytown flats.

Bridge Cafe

Bridge Cafe, 2 Bridge Rd, Willesden, Borough of Brent, London NW10, 2004 • Wonky cafe-shack that’s now demolished. The  DIY logo looks like half a burger bun, but it’s meant to […]

Abcat Cine Club

Abcat Cine Club, 72 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2003 & 2010 • Still extant “adult” venue from decreasingly seedy Kings Cross: note net curtain update between […]

Eddy’s Cars

Eddy’s Cars, 18 Mitcham Lane, Borough of Lambeth, London SW16, 2001 & 2002 • A fantastially ramshackle office with classic signwriting: note tiny afterthought apostrophe in name. Shown operational in 2001 […]

William Amusement Burger Bar

William Amusement Burger Bar, 26 Station Road, Horley, Surrey, 2002 • Channelling the groovy Wimpy vibe. By  2012 was called The New Cafe, with the same net in the door, and […]

Tea Coffee Hot Soup

Tea Coffee Hot Soup, unknown cafe, Soho, City of Westminster, London W1, 1983 • In cartons to take away – how modern. Whatever this caff was, it won’t be there now.

Millennium Cafe

Millennium Cafe, Silvertown Way / Brunel Street (South), Borough of Newham, London E16, 2002 • Totally demolished, and even the side road has gone.

Simmons Dining Rooms

Simmons Dining Rooms, 32 Caledonian Road, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2002, 2010, 2013 (top to bottom) • By 2010 there was a trendy cafe behind this facade – I preferred the saggy […]

Westminster Sauna

Westminster Sauna, 162 Westminster Bridge Road, Borough of Lambeth, London SE1, 2002 • I like to think this was thronged to the net-curtained gunnels with MPs. Later demolished to make way […]

Nameless cafe (M.T. Plate?)

Nameless cafe (M.T. Plate?), circa 22 New Broadway, Tarring Road, Worthing, West Sussex, 2003 • A window crying for all lost net-curtained cafes. I think it had been The M.T. Plate, […]

Tudor Café

Tudor Café, 325 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, 2002 • Another Pepsi cafe with an unfeasably small accent. Now unrecognisable as the less delightful Cafe Delight.

Rheidol Rooms

Rheidol Rooms, 16 Rheidol Terrace, Borough of Islington, London N1, 2003 • Another Pepsi cafe. Apparently still there, but somewhat repainted and without the venetian blinds.

Café – Restaurant

Café – Restaurant, 187 Deptford High Street, Borough of Lewisham, London SE8, 2002 • Boasts ridiculously tiny accent on Café. Astonishingly, this still looked exactly the same (minus flags) in […]

Dilnot’s Bakers & Confectioners

Dilnot’s Bakers & Confectioners, 77 High Street, Whitstable, Kent, 2002 • This looks like it should be a permanent fixture, but became a jewellers. What looks like an ex-Hovis sign, top […]

Fanny Adams Unisex

Fanny Adams Unisex, 10 West Lane, Bermondsey, Borough of Southwark, London SE16, 2001 • They probably didn’t know that Fanny Adams was an 8-year-old whose murderer tore her into pieces. […]

Costa’s Barbers.

Costa’s Barbers., 165 Battersea High Street, Borough of Wandsworth, London SW11, 2002 • Infinitely preferable to a Costa coffee shop, this appeared to be undergoing refurbishment in 2012.

Café (Redchurch Street)

Café, 36 Redchurch Street, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London E2, 2006 • Pepsi cafes are a dying breed. This became Chaat Bangladeshi Kitchen.  

Gerry’s Curtains

Gerry’s Curtains, 56 East Street, Walworth, Borough of Southwark, London SE17, 2002 • Looks like Gerry left some outside. Unchanged by 2012 in old-school East Street market.